Monday, 5 June 2017

Why Vote? It Only Encourages Them

Whether you're voting for "strong and stable
government" or "for the many, not the few" (other political
parties are available) the thankfully short 2017 general election campaign culminates
in polling this Thursday. The British public, perhaps weary of all the major
votes over the last couple of years, may well resort to that old adage, why
vote? it only encourages them - a saying whose originator is defined as
'anonymous', though the internet seems to think, erroneously, that it's Billy
Connelly.

Thirty-eight years ago last month the UK voted in its first
female Prime Minister. "A new satirical dawn is breaking" remarked
wit and satirist Alan Coren. On the cusp of that seismic change in politics,
just before, and immediately after, the close of polls on 3 May 1979 BBC Radio
4 broadcast this admittedly rather shambolic live comedy show to mark the
change of guard from Sunny Jim (cue impression from Chris Emmett) to the Iron
Lady (wheel on Janet Brown).

Why Vote? It Only
Encourages Them was a combination of The
News Huddlines and The News Quiz.
From Huddlines comes the master of
ceremonies for the whole show, Roy Hudd, together with the aforementioned Chris
Emmett and Janet Brown. From The News
Quiz are the regular team captains Alan Coren and Richard Ingrams joined by
Willie Rushton and Peter Cook. David Jason, at the time a regular voice on Week Ending, also pops up. There are
some bizarre, though nonetheless funny, interludes in which Brian Johnston and
Bill Frindall describe what's going on the BBC1 TV coverage, a joke that works
better in the studio.

The programme was broadcast live - and the gaps do sometimes
show, ably covered-up by Hudd - from 9.35 pm, just before the close of polls,
until 10.00 pm. Brain Redhead then appears for ten minutes in discuss the
predictions on the final outcome, though this has been edited out on this
recording. The comedy resumes again at 10.10 pm for half-an-hour with the
comedians now off the leash a little more, as the ballot boxes have now been
sealed. (Topical comedy shows had to tread a little more carefully during the election period, more so than it does now. Week Ending was pulled from the schedules as soon as the election was called).To my knowledge Why Vote? It Only
Encourages Them has never been repeated, not surprising given its topical
nature. I'm grateful to David Mann who kindly supplied this recording.

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About Me

Hailing originally from Hull and spending most of my life in East Yorkshire I'm now resident in France.
For over 30 years I've been interested in radio, tv and film and have an archive of off-air recordings and radio-related material.
I'm not the Andy Walmsley that designs sets or produces tv programmes.
Professionally I worked in Local Government.
My wife Val works for Beaux Villages Immobilier.